The invention relates to a pharmaceutical tablet dispensing system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tablet dispensing and packaging system that substantially improves tablet dispensing efficiency when processing such tablets as half-split pills and quarter-split pills.
An automatic tablet dispensing and packaging system is generally provided with a tablet packaging portion and a tablet dropping portion placed above the packaging portion. The table dropping portion includes tablet cassettes each storing therein and dropping therefrom a predetermined set of tablets. For an additional tablet dispensing operation, the known tablet dispensing system selectively includes a tablet tray that slides in and out from underneath the tablet dropping portion. The tablet tray accommodates extra tablets that are not appropriate to get stored in the tablet cassettes, such as half-split pills and quarter-split pills.
In order to fill the tablet tray with tablets, a system operator or a pharmacist is supposed to draw out the tray slidably attached to the system and fill out small openings within the tray with required tablets. At this time, since tablet bottles should be ready for tablet fill-out near the system usually distanced from tablet bottle storages or cabinets, the system operator or pharmacist has to disadvantageously wait until the tray becomes empty while suffering substantial labor from manual tablet distribution into the small openings.
Accordingly, a demand is to decrease a time interval between tablet loadings in the tray and improve efficiency as to the tablet distribution in the tray openings of the tablet tray.
An object of the present invention is to provide a tablet dispensing and packaging system that substantially improves tablet distribution efficiency when processing such tablets as half-split pills and quarter-split pills.
Another object is to substantially relieve a system operator or a pharmacist of laborious tablet distribution management by providing removable tablet trays and without requiring that tablet bottles or cabinets be moved close to the system each time tablets are being distributed on the tablet tray.
To achieve the above-described objects, an automatic tablet dispensing and packaging system according to the present invention comprises a drum unit accommodating a plurality of tablet cassettes communicating with elongated tablet channels to allow tablets in the tablet cassettes to selectively fall through the elongated tablet channels. The system also comprises a base tray defined by an upper surface, a lower surface and a thickness to slide in underneath the drum unit and slide out from underneath the drum unit. A plurality of first openings are formed through the upper and lower surfaces of the base tray. A first membrane having first pores is slidably provided on the lower surface of the base tray to either keep tablets in the first openings thereby or drop the tablets through the pores thereof when slidably displaced to a predetermined extent.
In an embodiment, the system includes a removable tray defined by a top surface, a bottom surface and a thickness. A plurality of second openings are formed through the top and bottom surfaces of the removable tray. A second membrane having second pores is slidably provided on the lower surface of the removable tray to either keep tablets in the second openings thereby or drop the tablets through the second pores thereof when slidably displaced to a predetermined extent. The removable tray is detachably mountable on the slid-out base tray.
A lever may be attached to the removable tray to control a sidewise slide of the second membrane so that a manipulation of the lever allows the tablets kept by the second membrane in the second openings to fall down through the second pores into the corresponding first openings of the base tray, in accordance with the lever manipulation. Further provided is a tablet packaging unit having a hopper disposed below the guide channels and the first membrane. The hopper congregates the tablets from the drum unit and the base tray unit to facilitate a tablet packaging using a packaging paper.
The base tray has at least two recesses formed in the upper surface thereof, and at least two protrusions corresponding to the recesses are attached on the bottom surface of the removable tray, so as to facilitate a vertical alignment of the first openings of the base tray and the corresponding second openings of the removable tray when the movable tray is mounted on the base tray.
The advantages of the present invention are numerous in that: (1) the removable tray in combination with the base tray serves to substantially decrease a time interval between tablet loadings in the base tray, thereby advantageously relieving a system operator or a pharmacist of waiting time until the filled-out base tray becomes empty; (2) the present invention enables the system operator or pharmacist to work on the removable tray for tablet distribution at a convenient location near tablet bottles and bottle cabinets and to easily transfer the tablet-filled removable tray onto the base tray while maintaining the system vicinity clear of equipment, thereby overcoming hygienic vulnerability around the system; and (3) the lever that controls the tablet dropping from the removable tray to the base tray is easily manipulated such that the system operator or pharmacist can simultaneously perform the removable tray movement and the tablet dropping from the removable tray to the base tray, thereby improving product reliability.
Although the present invention is briefly summarized, the fuller understanding of the invention can be obtained by the following drawings, detailed description and appended claims.